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Dave Parker, Power Hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dies at 74

Sports|Dave Parker, Power Hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dies at 74

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/sports/dave-parker-dead.html

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Parker, a towering outfielder who helped propel the Pirates to the World Series in 1979, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame last year.

Black and white image of a baseball player swinging a bat. His jersey says Pirates 39.

June 28, 2025, 6:55 p.m. ET

Dave Parker, the slugging outfielder nicknamed the Cobra who won a pair of National League batting championships, helped propel the Pittsburgh Pirates to the 1979 World Series championship and was belatedly elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame late last year, died on Saturday in Cincinnati. He was 74.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2012. The Pirates confirmed Parker’s death on social media.

At 6 feet 5 inches and about 230 pounds, Parker was a feared left-handed batter, hitting 339 home runs, driving in 1,493 runs and collecting 2,712 hits in his 19 major league seasons. He was a seven-time All-Star and displayed a rocket arm in right field, winning three Gold Glove awards.

In September 1985, while playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Parker testified in federal court in Pittsburgh that while a Pirate he arranged cocaine transactions between a Pittsburgh man and some of his teammates, along with some players for the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He said he used cocaine from 1976 to 1982.

“I stopped using in the late part of ’82,” Parker testified under a grant of immunity from prosecution. “I felt my game was slipping and I feel it played some part in it.”

In his 15 years on the sportswriters’ ballot for the Hall of Fame, which requires 75 percent of the votes for induction, Parker never received more than 24.5 percent of the votes.